Sigrid and her walker for Dust 1947

So far this year, I've managed to paint more models than in the past two years combined. This is due to a couple of factors.

First, my son Lucas and I are participating in a slow-grow league for Dust 1947 at Giga-Bites. In addition to scoring points for games played and victories, you can earn them for painting your force. Second, since Lucas is in the league and has begun to paint figures for the first time, I am teaching and encouraging him as he learns.

One of the units I really wanted to get painted is Sigrid and her walker, the Snow Lynx. Sigrid is a hero for the Axis, and the leader of the Blutkreuz faction which I play. She can pilot her personal walker, a Jagdluther named the Snow Lynx. Since I am painting my figures for a desert battlefield, I chose to rename the walker the Wüste Luchs (or Desert Lynx).

The Sigrid figure is a resin model that I won several years ago at a Dust tournament, and which has been in storage since then. I thought it high time to pull her out and get her painted.

The walker is a standard Jagdluther, with two modifications. I removed the rear compartment (I am using that for another project that I'll share as soon as it is finished), and I added an antenna.

I've painted a couple of light walkers and some squads of zombie troops as well, and I'll be sharing those here in future posts.

'Til next time!

Desert terrain - more palms and a sand ridge

Following up on the desert theme from my last post, I've been able to get a lot of work done on making terrain in the past few days - better progress than I've ever been able to maintain consistently! I don't know about you, but with me it seems that almost every time I get up a good head of steam and enthusiasm for a new game, era, theatre, etc., life comes at me and quickly interrupts my progress. Or, I get in my own way by fixating on a new shiny before I complete work on --- SQUIRREL! You get the picture.

I finished the oasis piece, with the addition of some small beige tufts from Gamer's Grass.

Photo of Beige 6mm Tufts from Gamer's Grass website.

I'd never used pre-made tufts before, and I must say - I am sold. I will definitely be picking up a wider variety of these to use in all my various terrain-making and figure-basing projects. They look terrific, and they are very easy to apply. The tufts just peel off the backing paper, and they have a slight adhesive already on them. The instructions suggest using a dab of glue for a better bond. I used Aleene's Clear Gel Tacky Glue. Peel, dab and stick. It really is as easy as that, and improves the look of the terrain tremendously, in my opinion.

Here's a group shot of the all the various desert terrain pieces I've completed:

Group shot

This stand of trees was made using MDF for the base layer, and a sheet of craft wood for the top layers. I added an extra, smaller level of wood at the rear to give the piece added relief.

Before adding any texture or paint.

Palm tree stands, textured and flocked.

Here is the completed stand of trees. I am using DUST figures (1:48 scale) to show the size.

Completed and ready for use.

I made another large stand of palm trees to complement this one:

Yes, that's the Desert Fox himself hiding in the trees...

The smallest stand of trees is made from some scrap pieces of thick sheet styrene I had lying about the work area.

Tina and Hyane patrol the palms.

After I got done adding texture to the palm tree stands, I still had quite a bit of my texturing material left. Working quickly so as not to let it dry, I cut a piece of pink insulation foam into shape as a dune/sand ridge. I used a hot wire foam cutter to shape it. I use a cheap one, very similar to this one, that I bought at Michael's.

Pink foam, ready for flocking.

The completed ridge will provide some small amount of cover for advancing troops.

Axis troops led by Red Yana.

Now I need to make some larger dunes or sand formations. That's easy - the hard part will be not getting sidetracked!

Lastly, a friend asked me how well the trees would scale with 15mm figures. I sent him a photo, but thought to share it here as well in case anyone is interested. Here you can see some Flames of War 15mm US infantry troops among the trees. I hope you find it helpful.

'Til next time.

Desert terrain - palm trees and an oasis

Lately, my gaming has taken a turn for warmer climes... requiring desert and tropical terrain. I can use the same terrain for quite a number of gaming systems - Crusader battles for Saga: The Crescent and the Cross, Operation Babylon combat for Dust 1947, North African World War II combat for Bolt Action or Chain of Command (progress on my DAK force began last week. and can be seen here), or island terrain for pirate battles for Blood and Plunder.

To start, I decided I needed an oasis and several stands of palm trees.

I began by cutting out the basic shapes, using MDF, craft plywood, and plasticard. Each shape consists of two layers (or more if I wanted it to have a bit of relief). I then cut, in the case of the oasis, or drilled, in the case of the holes for the trees, into the top layer of the material.

Once that was done, I glued the layers together, clamped them, and allowed them to dry completely. On the oasis piece, I used filler to smooth out some of the edges, and to seal the area where I would pour the water.

Stand of palm trees

Oasis

After adding filler to smooth edges and seal oasis

I mixed up a batch of textured filler to spread over the terrain. I used a wood filler (but sometimes I use regular filler or spackle), added a dollop of craft paint, and cheap sand I bought at the dollar store. I mix thoroughly, then start applying it to the base. Once the bottom layer is on, I sprinkle a finer sand over the top, dab Woodland Scenics Scenic Cement on it and let it dry completely.

Paint, sand and filler used to make terrain texture

Batch of texture ready to apply with spatula

Fine sand sprinkled over coarse texture

Then the painting - successive drybrushes of craft paint leading to a very light sand color.

Craft paints used to drybrush texture

Looking good so far, once trees are placed

The oasis itself was made using Woodland Scenics' Realistic Water. I poured it as instructed, to a depth of about 1/8 inch, and allowed it to dry for two days until the cloudiness was gone and the water was clear.

Realistic water, still a little cloudy

For the trees, I bought inexpensive plastic palm trees in a pack of six from Woodland Scenics. Using the 40% off coupon at Hobby Lobby makes them even more affordable. They also sell pre-painted trees, in a pack of five. But these are much more expensive, in my opinion, and a quick dab with some paint will make the cheaper trees look just as good.

I used the same technique  as before on the bases of the trees. This was after I glued a washer to the base, and trimmed it so it would fit in a one inch diameter hole. I added steel sheet inserts into these holes, and added magnets to the bases of the palm trees, to keep them more secure. I am not sure they need it, as the palm trees fit rather snugly...

Once that was done, I drybrushed the bases as I did before. I also applied paint to the trunks and leaves, then coated everything with matte sealer.

Bases trimmed to one inch

Texture applied to bases

First batch of tree bases all done

Colors used to drybrush bases

Colors used on trunk and branches of palms

And that's it, project done.

The only difficulty I've encountered is that the MDF board tends to warp a small amount as the filler and paint dry. I am not really sure how to fix this. I am experimenting with painting the bottom of the boards and letting them dry first, but we'll see how that works. I am also making a stand of trees using thick styrene rather than MDF or craft plywood. I will report the results, but in any case the warping is minor and does not affect the usability of the terrain.

'Til next time!